Over 90% say pensions dashboard could help them save for retirement

Nine out of 10 parents believe that an online service showing all of their pensions savings would help them to save more for their retirement, according to research by Mumsnet, the parents network, on behalf of the Association of British Insurers (ABI) and the Pensions Dashboard Project.

The survey of 1,206 parents also found that 96% of respondents believe an online service would be important in helping them know what they had saved, as well as giving them a forecast on how much they would have to live on in retirement.

Additionally, 70% of respondents, who have had at least one period of employment in their lives, said that they have either lost track of their pensions, or are aware of where these are but not what they are worth.

Just under two-thirds (64%) of parents are worried about not having enough money in retirement.

Yvonne Braun (pictured), director of long-term savings and protection policy at the ABI, said: “Despite the success of automatic-enrolment, it is widely recognised that most people are not saving enough to meet their expectations of retirement. It is encouraging that so many Mumsnet users say having access to all their pension information online would help them take action to save more.

“Now that so many people are comfortable using a range of online financial services, it’s an obvious next step to bring together all the information from all the different pension schemes people have over a lifetime so they can get an overview as they head towards retirement. “

Justine Roberts, founder and chief executive officer of Mumsnet, said: “We know that parents, and mothers in particular, are more likely to have gaps when they’re not able to save into a pension. This makes it even more important they have some easy way to see how their retirement is shaping up, whether they’ll have enough money to live on, and what they can do about it.

“An online tool to bring all this information together should be regarded as a basic necessity and the necessary steps taken by government, regulators and all parts of the pensions industry to make it a reality.”